Recently, I spent a bit of time with the Cingular 8125 (aka HTC Wizard) and the 8525 (aka HTC TyTN). Both of these devices are Pocket PC phones, running Windows Mobile 5. The 8125 came first, and just recently the 8525 showed up on the scene, stealing the 8125’s thunder, unseating it as the top dog Pocket PC phone at Cingular.

First, let’s be clear. These devices are PDAs first and phones second. Don’t get me wrong, they’re very good PDAs, and offer excellent wireless capabilities. The 8525 carries with it a laundry list of radio types and frequencies supported. Does all this connectivity make for the perfect mobile device? Perhaps, or perhaps not.

Cingular started selling the 8125 just about this time last year, and continues to sell it today. This is despite the fact that late last year, they started selling the newer, cooler, faster cousin, the 8525. These facts aside, the 8125 has a pretty impressive feature set:

• Ti OMAP 195 Mhz CPU
• 240×320 color screen, 64k colors
• GSM 850/900/1800/1900
• EDGE Class 10
• 802.11b
• Bluetooth 1.2
• Slide-out keyboard
• 1.3 MP digital camera
• MiniSD expansion slot

The 8525 adds a nice pile of features on top of what the 8125 already has…

• Samsung 400 Mhz CPU
• UMTS 850/1800/2100
• HSDPA 3.6 Mbps
• 802.11g
• Bluetooth 2.0 (but no EDR in sight)
• 2.0 MP digital camera
• MicroSD (aka Transflash) expansion slot

The Good

These devices are fantastic PDAs. I tried them both out using the Intellisync Mobile Suite 8.0 beta client for WM5. While I didn’t bother installing it (got my Outlook sync OTA via Intellisync), at this point, it’s pretty solid from all accounts I’ve read, and heard from friends that use Windows Mobile devices. That wasn’t always the case.

Radio nirvana was found here. The 8525, used with Cingular’s 3G HSDPA network was tremendously fast, though still not quite as good as using the built-in Wifi. It was certainly nice being able to use data while mobile and talking on the phone as well. The HSDPA certainly did kill the battery though.

Familiar look & feel was there for the Outlook bits – contacts, calendar, mail, etc. It’s not as good looking as WM 5.5, aka Crossbow, but still quite attractive all the same.

The Bad

These devices are huge. They’re big, wide, thick, bulky devices that do it all in one not-so-svelte package. Windows Mobile has been a mess from the networking perspective, ever since I’ve laid eyes on it. You connect to a wifi network, you get 2 choices. You can only decide if the network connects to the Internet or to work. What if I’m connecting to my home network? Is that connecting to work, like a private network, or is that connecting to the Internet, since my home net does have Internet access? I couldn’t find any explanation of what the difference between the two options really means. I just selected the Internet option each time and everything worked.

Microsoft’s been at this for a while now, and the OS just still feels clunky. I probably shouldn’t be surprised at this fact. After all, they’ve never managed to get it right on the desktop either.

These devices are lousy phones. Voice quality was pretty good, and bluetooth headsets worked pretty much as expected. One problem though – you can’t dial the phone without using the touchscreen. Ok, hands up, who wants to whip out a stylus to dial while driving? Yeah, I didn’t think so. The E61/62s, Treos, Qs and BlackJacks of the world got it right – actual keys you can operate with one hand.

Summary

If you want a connected PDA, go nuts, march right out and get yourself an 8525, or better still, a TyTN, which will be unbranded and unlocked as well. If you want a phone that has good PDA features, look at the Nokia E series devices, Treos or BlackJack.